Method for transferring parts from a first conveyor to a receptacle on a second conveyor

ABSTRACT

An apparatus and method for transferring parts travelling in a single row on a first conveyor to a receptacle travelling on a second conveyor, the parts being placed in the receptacle in consecutive rows of a plurality of the parts. A part loader, comprising an elbow-joint arm having a pivotable first arm and a second arm mounted on the end of the first arm pivotable relative to the first arm, supports a part pick-up member mounted on the end of the second arm which picks up at least one part from the end of the first conveyor and transfers the part to the receptacle on the second conveyor. Alternatively, the part pick-up member is adapted to pick up a row of parts from the first conveyor and to place one row of parts in the part receptacle, or to rotate a part during transfer from the first conveyor to the part receptacle.

CROSS REFERENCE TO RELATED APPLICATION

The present application is a divisional application of Ser. No. 465,166,filed Feb. 9, 1983, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,550,551, assigned to the sameassignee as the present application.

The present invention relates to a sagger loader and conveyor apparatusin general and more particularly to an apparatus and method forautomatically conveying powder compacted articles or parts from a powdercompacting press to saggers in which the parts are automatically loadedin a specific order, by rows for example, the saggers being on a movingconveyor belt.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Most articles and parts compacted of powder material in a powdercompacting press are ultimately loaded in ceramic boats or saggers,after ejection from the press. The saggers are used for conveying theparts through a "firing" or sintering furnace. The parts, as ejectedfrom the press, are in a socalled "green" state wherein the particles ofpowder material are held in adhesion by a binder, and they are thereforerelatively fragile.

Safe mechanical handling of such fragile parts presents many problemswhen the parts are transferred to a loading station, for example, wherethey are loaded in even rows in saggers and subsequently transported inthe saggers to a sintering furnace. In view of the difficultiesencountered in handling such fragile parts, manual sorting of the partsand manual loading of the saggers are often the solutions dictated bythe necessity of avoiding damaging the parts when in their green andfragile state. The problem of appropriately loading saggers with fragileparts is further complicated by the fact that the parts must be placedin a regular order in the saggers, rather than in bulk at random,sometimes spaced apart in a row and the successive rows being alsospaced apart, such as to allow the sintering operation to be effectedunder good conditions, with adequate air or inert gas circulation aroundthe parts, without fusing the parts in a mass, and with even heating andcooling of the parts during travel through the sintering furnace andduring any subsequent heat treatment operation, such as quenching forexample.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The present invention provides a part conveyor and container loaderparticularly well adapted to handling fragile parts such as green powdercompacted parts being loaded in saggers. The present invention providestransfer of the parts from the ejection station of a powder compactingpress to a sagger loading station where the parts are automaticallytransferred one at a time, or a row at a time, from a conveyor to one ofa plurality of saggers transported by a second conveyor.

The many objects and advantages of the present invention will becomeapparent to those skilled in the art when the following description ofthe best mode contemplated for practicing the invention is read inconjunction with the accompanying drawing wherein like referencenumerals refer to like elements and in which:

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWING

FIG. 1 is a front elevation view of a part and sagger loader andconveyor apparatus according to the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a side elevation view thereof from line 2--2 of FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is a top plan view thereof;

FIG. 4 is a partial elevation view thereof from line 4--4 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 5 is a partial elevation view thereof from line 5--5 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 6 is a sectional partly schematic view substantially along line6--6 of FIG. 4 and line 6--6 of FIG. 5;

FIG. 7 is a partial sectional view along line 7--7 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 8 is a partial sectional view along line 8--8 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 9 is a partial view from line 9--9 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 10 is a section along line 10--10 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 11 is a section along line 11--11 of FIG. 6;

FIG. 12 is a partial view from line 12--12 of FIG. 3;

FIG. 13 is a section along line 13--13 of FIG. 12;

FIG. 14 is a section along line 14--14 of FIG. 12;

FIG. 15 is a view similar to FIG. 12 but showing a modification thereof;

FIG. 16 is a section along line 16--16 of FIG. 15;

FIG. 17 is a partial end view and section along line 17--17 of FIG. 15;

FIG. 18 is a view similar to FIG. 15, but showing a modificationthereof;

FIG. 19 is a cross-section along line 19--19 of FIG. 18;

FIG. 20 is a cross-section along line 20--20 of FIG. 18;

FIG. 21 is a partial end view from line 21--21 of FIG. 18; and

FIG. 22 is a schematic view similar to FIG. 3 and showing an example ofcontrol system for the conveyor and loader apparatus of the invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

Referring to FIGS. 1-3, a powder compacted part conveyor and saggerloading apparatus according to the present invention comprises a framestructure 10 supporting from the ground a sagger conveyor 12. The saggerconveyor 12 is disposed at an angle, and adjustable support pillars 14are provided for adjustment of the angle of inclination of the saggerconveyor 12. The sagger conveyor 12 comprises an endless belt 16supported by a free-wheeling drum 18 at one end and a power driven drum20 at the other end, the drums 18 and 20 being in turn rotatablysupported by a frame 22, as is well known in the art. A steppingelectrical motor 24, through a gear reduction drive 26, drives the powerdriven conveyor drum 20. Appropriate support rollers, not shown, may bedisposed between the sides of the frame 22 at diverse locations alongthe conveyor belt 16 to provide additional support to the belt and tothe load carried by the belt.

A plurality of ceramic boats or saggers 28 are stored in a saggermagazine 30, from which they are transferred one at a time manually orby way of an appropriate automatic loading mechanism 31, forming no partof the present invention.

A part conveyor 32, driven by a geared-down stepping motor 33, isdisposed substantially horizontally with its longitudinal axis at aright angle to the longitudinal axis of translation of the saggerconveyor 12. The part conveyor 32 carries "green" powder compacted parts34 from the part ejection station of a powder compacting press 36. Thepowder compacting press 36 may be of the type disclosed in U.S. Pat.Nos. 4,166,716, 4,153,399, 3,826,599, 3,741,697, 3,730,659, 3,715,796,3,574,892, 3,561,056, 3,561,054, and 3,415,142, for example, allassigned to the same assignee as the present application.

The parts 34, for example in the form of green carbide cutting inserts,after ejection from the ejection station of the powder compacting press36 are disposed in a single row on the belt, not shown, of the conveyor32. The belt of the part conveyor 32 is covered with a cover or shield38, FIG. 3, having a slot 40 whose edges act as lateral guides for therow of parts 34. Upon reaching the end of the part conveyor 32overhanging over the sagger conveyor 12, the parts 34 are taken one at atime, or one row at a time, each row consisting of a predeterminednumber of parts, by a pick-up unit or wand 42 mounted on the end of thepivotable elbow-joint arm 44 of a sagger loader 46. The sagger loader 46is mounted on a support plate 50 attached to the top of a bracket 48affixed to the side of the conveyor support frame 10. The part pick-upunit or wand 42, mounted on the end of the loader elbow-joint arm 44,engages a row of parts 34 at the end of the part conveyor 32, or asingle part at a time, and is subsequently lifted by the elbow-joint arm44 from above the part conveyor 32, displaced laterally along a curve,for example to the left as shown at FIG. 2, and moved vertically such asto place the part, or alternatively the row of parts at an appropriateposition in a sagger 28 travelling on the sagger conveyor 12, along thepath arbitrarily represented at FIG. 2 by a phantom line 52. Duringplacement of the part or row of parts 34, the motion of the saggerconveyor belt 16 is stopped as a result of the stepping drive motor 24having appropriately been momentarily turned off.

The loader 46, FIGS. 4-6, bolted on the support plate 50 on the top ofthe side bracket 48 has a housing 54 provided with a bolted down rearplate 56 on which is mounted an electric stepping motor 58, FIG. 5. Themotor 58 drives through an appropriate gear reduction train, not shown,a final reduction toothed wheel 60, FIG. 6, keyed on a camshaft 62journalled at one end through an appropriate bearing 64 in a boss 66formed in the opposite wall of the housing 54, and journalled at itsother end by means of appropriate bearings 67 held in an aperture 68, inthe plate 50, covered by a cover plate 69. A pair of cams 70 and 72 aremounted on the camshaft 62 for rotation thereby, the camshaft 62 beingprovided with a mounting shoulder 74, and the cams 70 and 72 beingattached to the camshaft mounting shoulder 74 by means of bolts 76 and apin 77, for example. The cam 72 operates the upper arm 78, FIGS. 4 and6, of the elbow-joint arm 44, while the cam 70 operates the lower arm 80of the elbow-joint arm 44.

Each cam 70, 72, FIGS. 6-8, has an edge flange or drum portion, 82 and84 respectively, of constant wall thickness over an arc of, for example,at least 250° around the periphery of the cam. Each cam drum portion 82or 84 defines an appropriate lobe contour during rotation ofrespectively the cam 70 or 72. During rotation of the cam 72, abifurcated arm 86 is pivoted as a result of the engagement of a camfollower 88 mounted on the end of the bifurcated arm 86 with the lobecontour defined by the drum portion 84. The cam follower 88 consists ofa relatively large diameter roller 90, mounted in the end of thebifurcated arm 86 by way of a pin 91, in rolling engagement with theperipheral surface of the cam drum portion 84, and of a roller 92, ofrelatively smaller diameters engaged with the inner surface of the camdrum portion 84, the roller 92 being mounted on the end of a link 93pivotally attached at its other end to the end of the bifurcated arm 86by means of the pin 91. Such an arrangement permits the cam follower 88to precisely follow the contour of the cam drum lobe portion 84, withoutrequiring any return spring for the bifurcated arm 86, and to cause thebifurcated arm 86 to pivot according to the cam lobe contour around anaxis of rotation defined by the longitudinal axis of a tubular shaft 94,FIGS. 6 and 8, rotatably supported in the loader housing 54 by means ofappropriate bearings such as bearings 95 and 96, the arm 86 being formedintegral with an appropriate end of the tubular shaft 94 or attachedthereto.

A second tubular shaft 98 is disposed within the tubular shaft 94, thetubular shafts 98 and 94 being disposed in turn concentrically around asolid shaft 100 extending from the housing cover plate 56 to the otherend of the housing 54. Appropriate bearings 102 support the solid shaft100 within a boss 104 formed in a closure cap 106 mounted in anappropriate aperture 107 in the cover plate 56. The other end of thesolid shaft 100 is supported by means of appropriate bearings 108disposed in a boss 110 of a forward cover plate 112.

The inner tubular shaft 98 is supported by appropriate bearings 114 and116 relative to the outer tubular shaft 94 and is provided at one endwith a bifurcated actuating arm 118 formed integrally therewith orattached thereto. A cam follower 120 is mounted on the end of the arm118, the cam follower 120 consisting of relatively large roller 122, inrolling engagement with the peripheral surface of the lobe drum portion82 of the cam 70, held by a pin 123 on the end of the bifurcated arm118, and a relatively small diameter roller 124 in rolling engagementwith the inner surface of the lobe cam drum 82. The roller 124 ismounted on the end of a link 126 pivotally attached at its other end tothe pin 123. Rotation of the cam 70 therefore causes the arm 118 tooscillate in order for the cam follower 120 to follow the contour of thecam drum portion 82, thus in turn causing the inner tubular shaft 98 tooscillate.

Oscillation of the peripheral tubular shaft 94, as controlled by the cam72, through the intermediary of the cam follower 88 and the bifurcatedarm 86, is transmitted to the upper arm 78 of the loader elbow-joint arm44. The upper arm 78, FIG. 6, takes the form of an elongated, downwardlyextending housing 130 which is pivotable relative to the solid shaft 100by being supported therefrom at its forward portion by bearings such asbearings 132. The upper arm housing 130 has a rear portion provided witha bore 134 fitting over the outer tubular shaft 94, and is fastened tothe outer tubular shaft 94 by means of a radial setscrew 136 such thatrotating motion of the outer tubular shaft 94 causes pivoting of theupper arm housing 130.

The lower arm 80 of the elbow-joint arm 44 has a housing 138 which ismounted pivotable around a pivot shaft 140 supported at both ends bybearings 142 and 144 from the bottom of the upper arm housing 130. Atubular shaft 146 is disposed concentrically around the pivot shaft 140.The tubular shaft 146 is supported at one end from the pivot shaft 140by a bearing 148 and is supported at its other end by a bearing 150relative to the upper arm housing 130. The lower arm housing 138 isattached to the tubular shaft 146 by one or more setscrews 152 such thatrotation of the hollow shaft 146 causes pivoting of the lower armhousing 138 relative to the upper arm housing 130. A bearing 151 isdisposed between the periphery of the pivot shaft 140 and a bore 153 inthe lower arm housing 138 for supporting the rearward portion of thelower arm housing 138 where the pivot shaft 140 projects therethroughfor support by the upper arm housing 130 through the bearing 142.

An arm 154 is fastened to the end of the inner tubular shaft 98 by meanssuch as one or more setscrews 155. Oscillatory rotation of the innertubular shaft 98, as actuated by its other arm 118 according to thecontour of the cam lobe drum 82 of the lower arm cam 70 is transmittedto the lower arm housing 138 through the tubular shaft 146 oscillatorilyrotated by a link 156 pivotally attached at one end by a pin 158, FIG.9, to the end of the arm 154 and at its other end by a pin 160 to theend of an arm 162 integral with, or attached, to the tubular shaft 146.It can therefore be seen that while the upper arm 78 of the loaderelbow-joint arm 44 is pivoted relatively to the loader housing 54 by thecam 72, as previously explained, the lower arm 80 of the elbow-joint arm44 is independently pivoted by the cam 70 around the elbow joint definedby the shaft 140.

The housing 138 of the lower arm 80, preferably made in two sections tofacilitate assembly, supports at its lower end a stub shaft 164 by meansof appropriate bearings 166, FIGS. 4, 6 and 11, the stub shaft 164having a projecting portion 168 on which is mounted the part pick-upmember or wand 42, FIG. 6. The angular position of the stub shaft 164,and therefore the wand 42, remains spatially substantially constantthroughout all the motions of the elbow-joint arm 44 from the home orrest position H shown in phantom line at FIG. 4 to the part pick-upposition shown at P in phantom line, to the sagger loading positionshown in full line. All throughout the motions of the elbow-joint arm44, the wand support shaft 164 is prevented from actually rotating,although the lower arm housing 138 is caused to pivot relative to theupper arm housing 130 and the upper arm housing 130 is caused to pivotrelative to the loader housing 54 as previously explained. For thatpurpose, the wand support shaft 164 is connected to the pivot shaft 140by way of an arm 170 attached to the shaft 164 by means such as a radialsetscrew 172, a link 174, FIG. 11, being pivotally attached to the endof the arm 170 at one end and pivotally attached to an arm 176 at itsother end, the arm 176 being in turn attached to the pivot shaft 140 byfastening means such as a radially disposed setscrew 178. The pivotshaft 140 is tied to the shaft 100 by way of an arm 180, FIGS. 6 and 10,fastened to the shaft 140 by a setscrew 182, for example, a link 184interconnecting the arm 180 to an arm 185 attached to the shaft 100 bymeans such as setscrew 188.

It is readily apparent that the arrangement of the link 184interconnecting the shafts 100 and 140 and the arrangement of the link174 interconnecting the shafts 140 and 164 form a pair of deformableparallelograms, acting in opposite direction, such that the angularposition of the shaft 164 at the bottom of the lower arm housing 138remains constantly substantially the same as the angular position of theshaft 100, irrespective of whether the intermediary pivot shaft 140 isrotating or not. This is due to the fact that, irrespective of theposition of the upper arm housing 130, the arms 180 and 185 remainparallel and, irrespective of the angular position of the lower armhousing 138 relative to the upper arm housing 130, the arms 170 and 176remain parallel. As the angular position of the shaft 164 relative tovertical and horizontal coordinates remains substantially the same asthe angular position of the shaft 100 relative to such horizontal andvertical coordinates and as the shaft 100 is held stationary, the shaft164 remains constantly at the same spatial angular position such that,at the part pick-up position P, FIG. 4, of the elbow-joint arm 44 thewand support shaft 164 is oriented such that the part pick-up portion ofthe wand 42 is directed vertically, and at the sagger loading position,shown in full line at FIG. 4, the wand 42 is also oriented substantiallyvertically, although preferably at a slight angle to the vertical toaccommodate for the inclination of the sagger conveyor 12, FIG. 2.

The shaft 100 is held stationary, but adjustable in angular position, bymeans of a bifurcated arm 190 attached to the shaft 100 by, for example,a radially disposed setscrew 192, FIG. 6, the arm 190 being pivotallyattached by way of a pin 194, FIGS. 5 and 6, to a rod 196 mountedtransversely in the loader housing 54 and slidably supported therein.The longitudinal position of the rod 196 is determined by an adjustingfine thread screw 198, FIG. 5, having its end threading in a threadedbore 199 in the end of the rod 196, the screw 198 being held rotatablyin a bore 201 through the wall of the housing 54 and being preventedfrom being displaced in one direction by its head 203 and in the otherdirection by a washer 205 or other shoulder abutment means, fastened tothe body of the screw 198. The angular adjustment of the shaft 100,affecting in turn the angular position of the part pick-up wand supportshaft 164, permits to adjust with precision the position of the wand 42while picking up parts from the part conveyor 32, FIGS. 1-3, and thegenerally vertical position, although at a slight angle, of the wand 42while depositing the parts in a sagger 28 on the sagger conveyor 12, thecenterline of the shaft 164 having described the curve 52, FIGS. 2 and4, in the course of the motion of the elbow-joint arm 44 from the partpick-up position to the sagger loading position.

An example of part pick-up head or wand 42 is illustrated at FIGS.12-14, mounted on the support end 168 of the wand holder shaft 164 atthe end of the lower arm 80 of the loader elbow-joint arm 44 by means ofa setscrew 200. The wand 42 has a body portion 202 made of metal orplastic having a solid top portion 204 and an angled sidewall 206. Asecond sidewall is formed by a plate 208 attached to the side of thebody top portion 204 opposite to the integral sidewall 206, by means ofscrews 209, such as to form an internal chamber 210 between the sidewall206 and the plate 208. The terminal bottom edge 212 of the sidewallplate 208 and the terminal bottom edge 214 of the inclined sidewall 206are separated by a narrow space or gap forming a slot 216, FIGS. 13 and14. The chamber 210 is placed in communication through a passageway 218and a flexible hose 220 with a source of suction, not shown, through anappropriate valve, not shown. The end of the passageway 218 beyond anorifice 221 placing the passageway in communication with the hose 220 isplugged, as shown at 222. The wand body 202 is provided with an integralenlarged portion 224 having an axial bore 226 for introductiontherethrough of the end portion 168 of the holder shaft 164, thesetscrew 200 being disposed radially through the body enlarged portion224.

The wand 42 of FIGS. 12-14 is adapted to pick-up the part 34 from thepart conveyor 32, FIGS. 1-3, one row at a time, for transferring theparts 34 as a row into a sagger 28 on the sagger conveyor 12. When inthe pick-up position over the part conveyor 32, with the edge 212 of thewand sidewall plate 208 in close proximity with or, preferably, inphysical engagement with the top of each part 34 in the row, air suctionis applied to the chamber 210 through the hose 220, the orifice 221 andthe passageway 218, and the air suction in the chamber 210 is applied tothe top of the parts 34 through the slot 216, thus holding the parts inengagement with the bottom edge 212 of the sidewall plate 208. The tipor edge 214 of the inclined sidewall 206 which projects slightly beyondthe tip or edge 212 of the sidewall plate 208 prevents the parts 34 fromtipping over.

When the wand 42 is brought over the sagger 28 on the sagger conveyor12, the source of suction is cut off, and the parts 34 are placed in arow in the sagger. The wand 42 is subsequently returned to its pick-upposition by action of the elbow-joint arm 44, such as to pick-up asubsequent row of parts 34, while the conveyor 12 indexes forward thesagger 28 in the process of being loaded of a distance corresponding toone row of parts. The inclination of the sagger conveyor 12 prevents theparts 34 placed in the sagger 28 from falling backwards and causes eachconsecutive row of parts to be applied, by gravity, against thepreceding row.

It will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art that during afull cycle of part pick-up and sagger loading operation, the loaderdrive motor 58, FIG. 5, is automatically reversed such as to reverse therotation of the cams 70 and 72, FIGS. 6-8, for reversing the motion ofthe elbow-joint arm 44 to return the wand 42 to the part pick-upposition after dwelling at the sagger loading position.

FIGS. 15-17 illustrate another example of structure for a wand 42mounted on the end 168 of the wand holder shaft 164 at the bottom of theloader lower arm 80, for picking up one part 34 at a time for placementin a sagger. The wand 42 of FIGS. 15-17 takes the form of a block 230provided with a longitudinal bore 226 fitted over the end portion 168 ofthe support shaft 164, one or more setscrews 200 being disposed radiallyfor clamping the block 230 onto the end portion 168 of the support shaft164. The block 230 is provided with a pair of parallel longitudinalbores 232 in each of which is affixed the end of one of a pair of rods234 acting as a support and ways for a slide 236 having a pair ofparallel bores 238 provided in turn with linear bearings 240 permittingthe slide 236 to be smoothly longitudinally and linearly displaceablealong the rods 234. A cross member 242 is mounted on the free end of therods 234 for tying them together and for providing an abutment for theslide 236 at the end of its travel along the rods 234. A vacuum partpick-up head 244 is mounted below the slide 236. The part pick-up head244 has a recess 246 placed in communication by a passageway 218 and aflexible hose 220 with an intermittent source of vacuum or air suctionfor picking up one part 34 at a time from the part conveyor 32. Theslide 236 is longitudinally displaced along the rods 234 by a steppingmotor 248 mounted on the top of the slide and having a pinion 250, FIG.17, mounted on its output shaft 252 meshing with a rack 254 mounted onthe top of a support bar 256 extending longitudinally parallel to therods 234. One end of the rack support bar 256 is attached to the block230 and the other end is attached to the cross-member 242, such that therods 234, the mounting block 230 and the rack support plate 256 form asturdy and rigid assembly.

The part pick-up wand 42 of FIGS. 15-17 is adapted to pick-up one part34 at a time from the part conveyor 32, FIGS. 1-3. For example, the part34 being picked up is the last part in the row of parts on the partconveyor 32, the slide 236 being positioned by the stepping motor 248abutting the mounting block 230. After a part 34 has been picked up bythe part pick-up head 244, the wand 42 is positioned by the loaderelbow-joint arm 44 over the sagger 28 on the sagger conveyor 12, thestepping motor 248 being activated during the travel of the wand 42 fromits part pick-up position to its sagger loading position to index theslide 236 to the appropriate order position permitting the part 34 to beplaced either at the beginning, or at the end, or at any intermediateposition, of a row of parts 34 being loaded in the sagger 28.

It will be readily appreciated that appropriate limit switches, notshown, are provided on the part pick-up and loading wand 42 of FIGS.15-17 to limit the end of the travel of the slide 236 between themounting block 230 and the cross-bar member 242, and that the number ofelectrical pulses fed to the stepping motor 248 corresponds to theposition order in a row in the sagger 28 of the part 34 to be loadedtherein.

The part pick-up wand 42 of FIGS. 18-21 is also adapted to pick up onepart 34 at a time from the part conveyor 32, FIGS. 1-3. The part 34however takes, for example, the form of an elongate, substantiallycylindrical object such as a spark plug ceramic body being picked upfrom the part conveyor 32 in a substantially horizontal position andbeing placed vertically in an appropriate order in a row of parts 34 inthe sagger 28 on the sagger conveyor 12.

The wand 42 of FIGS. 18-21 comprises a support block 230 having alongitudinal bore 226 fitted over the end portion 168 of the supportshaft 164 at the bottom of the lower arm 80 of the loader elbow-jointarm 44, by one or more setscrews 200 disposed radially. The block 230 isprovided with a pair of parallel bores 232 in each of which is affixedthe end of one of a pair of rods 234 acting as a support and ways for aslide 236. The slide 236 has a pair of parallel longitudinal bores 238provided with linear bearings 240 permitting the slide 236 to besmoothly and linearly displaceable along the rods 234. A third rod 260is fitted in a third bore 262 in the support block 230, and extendslongitudinally parallel to the pair of rods 234. A substantiallytriangular bracing end block 264, FIGS. 18 and 21, is provided withappropriate bores 266, in which are fitted the other ends of the rods234 and 260 by means such as, for example, transverse setscrews 268,such as to provide a strong, sturdy and rigid assembly for supportingthe slide 236.

Rather than mounting the slide stepping drive motor 248 on the slide 236itself, as in the structure of FIGS. 15-17, the stepping motor 248 isbolted below the support block 230, its drive shaft 252 projectingwithin the block 230 through a bore 270. A cogwheel 250 is mounted onthe end of the motor output shaft 252 in a cavity 272 formed in thesupport block 230. A chain 274 is wrapped around and driven by the motoroutput cogwheel 250. The chain 274 is also wrapped around a cogwheel 276mounted on a free-wheeling shaft 277 disposed parallel to the motoroutput shaft 252 in a cutout portion 275 in the bracing end block 264.One end of the chain 274 is attached to the slide 236 by a clamp member278, the other end of the chain being attached to the slide 236 by aclamp member 278. Each clamp member 278 takes any appropriate shape,such as that illustrated as consisting of a pair of cam members in theform of eccentric bushings disposed side by side and rotatable to aposition clamping the appropriate end of the chain 274. Appropriatesocket screws 279 are provided for locking the clamp members 278 intheir chain-holding position. Alternatively, the chain 274 may be anendless chain attached at some point to the slide 236.

It can be seen that the stepping motor 248, through the chain 274, iscapable of positioning the slide 236 to any appropriate intermediatepositions between the support block 230 and the bracing end block 264.The part pick-up head 244 takes the form of an L-shaped arm 280 providedat its end with the recess 246 placed in communication by a passageway218 and a flexible hose 220, with an intermittent source of vacuum orair suction, not shown. The L-shaped arm 280 is mounted on the outputshaft 282, by convenient means such as a setscrew 284, of a rotaryactuator 286 mounted below the slide 236 by way of a vertical bracket288 attached to, or made integral with, the slide 236. The output shaft282 of the rotary actuator 286 is capable of being controllably rotatedabout an arc of at least 90 degrees such that the L-shaped arm 280 isrotated from the horizontal position shown in full line at FIG. 18 forpicking up the part 34 from its original position on the part conveyor32 to a substantially vertical position, shown in phantom line at FIG.18, for placing the part 34 in a substantially vertical position in thesagger 28 on the sagger conveyor 12, FIGS. 1-3. The rotary actuator 286may be any convenient rotary actuator, electrically or fluid operatedsuch as a rotary actuator manufactured by Ex-Cell-O Corporation and soldunder the trademark "ROTAC". Appropriate limit switches, not shown, orother sensors are provided for operating the rotary actuator 286 inconjunction with the displacement of the slide 236 and in conjunctionwith the travel of the lower arm 80 of the elbow-joint arm 44 of theloader 46.

The operation of the apparatus of the invention is automatic. Diversesensors, in the form of pressure switches, limit switches, proximityswitches and light beam activated photoelectric sensors are disposed atappropriate locations along the sagger conveyor 12 and the part conveyor32, to regulate the flow of saggers 28 on the sagger conveyor belt 16,to regulate the flow of parts 34 on the part conveyor 32, and tocoordinate the operation of the loader 46 to load the saggers 28 withparts 34 in an appropriate order. As schematically illustrated at FIG.22, for example, a first sensor 302 is disposed on one side of thesagger conveyor 12 to detect the presence of an empty sagger 28 beingplaced on the sagger conveyor belt 16. In the event that no sagger ismanually or automatically placed on the sagger conveyor belt 16, thesensor 302 through an appropriate controller 304 shuts off the saggerconveyor motor 24, or rings an alarm to call the attention of anoperator, or both. A second sensor 306 senses the width of the spacing,if any, between consecutive saggers 28 and provides a signal to thecontroller 304 stored in a register in the controller 304 for eventuallycontrolling the conveyor motor 24 to feed the conveyor belt 16 anappropriate distance for bringing the next sagger 28 in an appropriateposition for beginning loading when a sensor 308 detects that the saggerin the process of being loaded is fully loaded. A sensor 310 installedproximate the end of the sagger conveyor 12 detects the arrival of afull sagger 28 at the end of the sagger conveyor and is arranged tosound an alarm and, for example, after a certain delay, to stop theoperation of the apparatus including stopping the operation of thesagger loader 46 if the sagger is not removed.

The operation of the stepping motor 33 driving the part conveyor 32 issimilarly subjected to the control of appropriate sensors detecting thepresence of parts at diverse locations along the conveyor 32. Forexample, a sensor 312, installed at the inlet of the part conveyor 32detects the presence of parts being ejected from the powder compactingpress onto the conveyor 32 at the part ejection station. One or more jamdetectors 314 detects the presence or absence of parts at chosenlocations along the part conveyor 32 and are arranged to either sound analarm or stop the operation of the apparatus, or both, in the event thatthe parts are not regularly disposed in a single file. In arrangementswhere parts are loaded on a sagger 28 one row at a time, a pair of rowdetecting sensors 316, disposed along the part conveyor 32 such as tocorrespond to a full row of parts to be transported by the loader 46from the part conveyor 32 onto the sagger 28 in the process of beingloaded, act as safety devices determining the presence of a row of parts34 at the end of the part conveyor 32 and preventing operation of theloader 46 unless enough parts to make a row are present at the end ofthe part conveyor 32.

In arrangements where a single part 34 is loaded from the part conveyor32 onto the sagger 28, a part presence sensor 318 at the end of the partconveyor 32 actuates the beginning of the operation of the loader 46.Knowing how many parts 34 are to be placed in a row in the sagger 28,for example as stored in a memory in the controller 304, the slidestepping motor 248 of the part loading wand 42 of FIGS. 15-17, or ofFIGS. 18-21, is operated such as to locate the part pick-up head 244 onthe slide 236 along the slide guiderails or rods 234 to an appropriateposition corresponding to the order of the single part 34 being loadedin a row in the sagger 28. The slide stepping motor 248 may be operatedunder the control of a counter that counts each part being placed by thewand in a row in the sagger.

An appropriate sensor may be disposed at an appropriate location on thewand to determine the presence of a part on the wand and, as will beappreciated by those skilled in the art, other sensors may be disposedfor counting the rows of parts being loaded in the sagger 28, when afull row has been placed in the sagger such as to control the saggerconveyor motor 24 to advance the conveyor belt 16 of a distancecorresponding to the width of a row, and the like.

Having thus described the present invention by way of examples ofstructure well adapted to accomplish the purpose of the invention,modification whereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art, whatis claimed as new is as follows:
 1. A method for transferring partstravelling in a single row along a first axis of travel on a firstconveyor to a receptacle travelling on a second conveyor along a secondaxis of travel at an angle to said first axis of travel, said partsbeing placed in said receptacle on said second conveyor in consecutiverows of a predetermined plurality of said parts, said method comprisingdisposing an elbow-joint arm supported by a stationary housing at alocation where said first axis of travel and said second axis of travelintersect, said elbow-joint arm having a first arm pivotable around asingle pivot axis relative to said housing and a second arm mounted onthe end of said first arm pivotable around a second pivot axis relativeto said first arm, said first and second pivot axes being substantiallyparallel and a part pick-up member being mounted on the end of saidsecond arm, pivoting said first arm relative to said housing, pivotingsaid second arm relative to said first arm for placing said part pick-upmember over said parts on said first conveyor, picking up at least oneof said parts by said pick-up member, pivoting said first arm relativeto said housing and pivoting said second arm relative to said first armsuch as to place said part pick-up member over said receptacle on saidsecond conveyor, and releasing at least said one of said parts from saidpart pick-up member for placing it in said receptacle.
 2. The method ofclaim 1 wherein a row of said parts is picked up from said firstconveyor by said part pick-up member, and further comprising placingsaid row of said parts in said receptacle on said second conveyor, andindexing said receptacle to subsequent rows of parts after placing eachrow of parts in said receptacle.
 3. The method of claim 1 wherein asingle part is picked up from said first conveyor, and furthercomprising placing said part in said receptacle on said second conveyorat a predetermined location in a row.
 4. The method of claim 2 furthercomprising rotating said parts about 90° in a vertical plane whiletransferring each row of said parts.
 5. The method of claim 2 furthercomprising rotating said parts about 270° in a vertical plane whiletransferring each row of said parts.
 6. The method of claim 3 furthercomprising rotating said part about 90° in a vertical plane whiletransferring said part.
 7. The method of claim 3 further comprisingrotating said part about 170° in a vertical plane while transferringsaid part.
 8. A method for transferring parts travelling along a firstaxis of travel on a first conveyor to a receptacle travelling on asecond conveyor along a second axis of travel at an angle to said firstaxis of travel and for placing said parts in said receptacle inconsecutive rows of a predetermined plurality of said parts, said methodcomprising picking up at least one of said parts at the end of saidfirst conveyor, transferring said one of said parts to said receptacleat a predetermined order in a row of said parts in said receptacle,advancing said receptacle after completion of each row of said partsloaded therein to a position corresponding to each of the nextconsecutive rows, and repeating the transfer of said parts to saidreceptacle until said receptacle is fully loaded with parts.
 9. Themethod of claim 8 further comprising rotating said part about 90° in avertical plane when transferring said part from said first conveyor tosaid receptacle.
 10. The method of claim 8 further comprising rotatingsaid part about 270° in a vertical plane while transferring said partfrom said first conveyor to said receptacle.
 11. A method fortransferring parts travelling along a first axis of travel on a firstconveyor to a receptacle travelling on a second conveyor along a secondaxis of travel at an angle to said first axis of travel and for placingsaid parts in said receptacle in consecutive rows of a predeterminedplurality of said parts, said method comprising picking up a pluralityof said parts in a row at the end of said first conveyor andtransferring said row of said parts in a predetermined row order in saidreceptacle, advancing said receptacle after completion of each row ofsaid parts loaded therein to a position corresponding to each of thenext consecutive rows, and repeating the transfer of consecutive rows ofsaid parts to said receptacle until said receptacle is fully loaded withparts.
 12. The method of claim 11 further comprising rotating said partsabout 90° in a vertical plane while transferring each row of said parts.13. The method of claim 11 further comprising rotating said parts about270° in a vertical plane while transferring each row of said parts.